I just stumbled across an Aussie horror film called Dark Age, produced by Antony I Ginnane, which accrording to the IMDB, was released abroad but never over here! Apparently when Avco Embassy went bust, it tied up the Australian release. I've heard of the film in the past in a couple of American reference books but now I know why I've never seen it.

Any chance you guys might be able to get it out on DVD? It starred John Jarratt, David Gulpili and Nikki Coghill, was made in 1987 and is about, erm, a giant killer crocodile...

I love that your company are bringing out so many Aussie genre films. There isn't enough recognition of the role these films have played in the development of our local cinema, and your DVD releases go some way to rectifying that.

Also, I've noticed that Screensound have a new 35mm print of Phillippe Mora's excellent Mad Dog Morgan in their archives. I've only seen a very dodgy Avenue One DVD of it in the past (and it seems to have a life of its own in the realm of cheap public domain DVD), but I'd love to see a decent print of it, in 16x9.

I've also been doing some reading about a 1971 comedy titled Nickel Queen, which was something of a local event during its production and release in WA. It was the first color movie made in western australia and had a nine month cinema run in its home state, yet has never been released on video, let alone DVD. I know a print exists as one of lecturers obtained it from the owners for an essay he was writing, so it'd be interesting to see the film, mainly for its place in Australian film history.

Not sure of availability, but just wanted to suggest these, mostly older movies...

Hausu (1977) aka 'House'
IMDB | Review & Screenshots
info: bizarre horror sort of like a japanese Beetlejuice
dvd: only a Japanese dvd without english subs

Zu Warriors (2001) remake of 'Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain' (1983)
IMDB | Trailer
director: Hark Tsui
info: check out the trailer
dvd: a US dvd came earlier this year I think - I assume there's others around too??

Shutter (2004)
IMDB | Trailer
info: thai horror - there's apparently a US remake been announced for 2007 too, although the IMDB info hasn't been updated for a while

Not sure if you do Russian movies, but it would be great to see Come and See on dvd. Easily the best war movie I've seen (or anti-war movie), if not one of the best movies from any genre - brilliant, though pretty disturbing. It just got a good 2 disc release in the UK a couple of months ago though.

After another year at MIFF (I saw 47 films this time round) there's a lot of quality cinema that Madman should look at. I believe Eastern Eye has already got its hands on The Host (9/10), Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (8/10) and A Bittersweet Life (8/10), which is fantastic.

A Scanner Darkly (8/10), The Descent (8/10) and United 93 (9/10) were also fantastic, but I know will be released by major studios. Also the excellent Danish gangster trilogy, Pusher 1 - 3, is getting released by Accent.

On another note, it's nice to see someone else (^^^) has actually recognised Mind Game now, which I've been requesting for about a bajllion years (which is impossible) over in the anime suggestion thread. Even better is the Japanese DVD has absolutely perfect english subtitles.

And yes, alot of movies from MIFF would make great acquisitions, but I'll leave the specifics up to other people around here as it's near impossible for me to go into any real detail about general film acquisitions without listing about a trillion movies._________________Drink Milk™, it’s Nature’s Water

After another year at MIFF (I saw 47 films this time round) there's a lot of quality cinema that Madman should look at. I believe Eastern Eye has already got its hands on The Host (9/10), Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (8/10) and A Bittersweet Life (8/10), which is fantastic.

A Scanner Darkly (8/10), The Descent (8/10) and United 93 (9/10) were also fantastic, but I know will be released by major studios. Also the excellent Danish gangster trilogy, Pusher 1 - 3, is getting released by Accent.

Thanks heaps for the suggestions, soma. Out of that list we already have Mind Game and The Aura.

h8sh8 wrote:

Not sure if you do Russian movies, but it would be great to see Come and See on dvd. Easily the best war movie I've seen (or anti-war movie), if not one of the best movies from any genre - brilliant, though pretty disturbing. It just got a good 2 disc release in the UK a couple of months ago though.

Well, these have been suggested a few times in the past but I thought I'd put in another vote for them. Myself and few friends have been waiting forever for good local releases. All of these are from South Korea.

Ha ha... nice work, it's exhausting but worth it - I've learnt my lesson in the past from seeing too few films at MIFF and consequently spent years trying to chase missed winners up. I booked for nearly 60 though, so my hit rate towards the end wasn't the best. That was enough for me though... although a few of us bumped into an RMIT film student who was seeing 90 films!

Anyway good work on The Host, A Bittersweet Life and Mind Game in particular - all really excellent films. By the way if you dig Mind Game then you'll love Funky Forest (not sure if you saw it? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451829/)... one of the most random, madcap, creative, hilarious and completely 'Japanese' films I've ever seen. It's like an electronic symphony of Cronenberg, Takashi Miike and Seasame Street, and so very very funny. Much like Mind Game it would have to be marketed right... but it has instant cult classic written all over it. I've seen a lot of crazy cinema over the years but this achieves some kind of rhythmic harmony as a film that leaves others of its ilk for dead.

The other film I'd most like to see Madman acquire is Sheitan (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450843/) - this was completely awesome and alongside The Host the most fun I had all festival. Instantly marketable because of Vincent Cassell, it's like Cabin Fever meets High Tension meets Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Doppelganger... so very 'French' and in short the best genre-bender in years. There's an excellent review of it here if interested: http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/content/view/402/1/

After the EE release of Master Of The Flying Gullotine, how about a R4 release of the anamorphic remaster of The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin?

Debatedly the greatest Kung Fu film ever made and there is no decent release as yet in any English language speaking countries. Release the anamorphic print with Mandarin Dolby Digital, English subtitles and the R3 special features and I'd be willing to bet it would be one of Eastern Eye's biggest sellers.

I've just been reading about a 1967 Japanese film called Japan's Longest Day, directed by the brilliant Kihachi Okamoto - responsible for a personal favourite of mine (and coincidentally an EE release), Sword Of Doom.

I have a lot of respect for these two particular reviewers from DVDTalk, and from what they've written here I cannot wait to see this film. It sounds like an absolute masterpiece.

AnimEigo has just released a restored and anamorphic widescreen R1 release for this. Unfortunately it has one of the year's worst cover designs (and before anyone asks, yes, it matters). Considering EE's Sword Of Doom release it would be great to see Japan's Longest Day handled by Madman for R4 - on either Eastern Eye or perhaps even Director's Suite might be better suited.

Either way, this is already attracting a lot of hype in internet film / DVD circles. It would be an outstanding release for you guys and beside the obvious Japanese / Asian film audience here, I think you'd find crossover market success with fans of war films and war history - ie: The Longest Day and Tora Tora Tora! both successful DVD releases here as far as I'm aware.

Come to think of it another great release (and as it happens a perfect companion piece for this film) would be one I caught at MIFF and completely forgot about - The Sun, by Russian Ark director Aleksandr Sokurov. This was definitely one of the better films I saw at MIFF this year; a meditative piece on the last day's of the Japanese Emperor during WWII (akin to Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall), told with the slow-burning, sparse and evocative filmmaking style of Gus Van Sant's Gerry.

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Based on Ray Bradbury's book. About a dystopian future where books are banned and thought suppresed. Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium ripped off the premise of this one. I don't think this has been released in Australia yet...

1984
Both the 1956 version and the 1984 release, maybe even in one set for comparison. Yeah, that'd be cool!

Wizards (1977)
Dir: Ralph Bakshi
Animated film about two warring wizards. It was Bakshi's first fantasy film before he began adapting The Lord of the Rings.

Heart of Darkness (1994)
Dir: Nicolas Roeg
John Malkovich
Tim Roth

Based on Joseph Conrad's novel that was the basis for Apocalypse Now. Story about a man who is employed by an ivory trading company in Africa to go upriver and bring back one of their who is rumoured to have insane.

The Secret Agent (1996)
Dir: Christopher Hampton
Based on another Joseph Conrad novel, this one has a name-cast as long as your arm (Bob Hoskins, Jim Broadbent, Christian Bale, Gérard Depardieu). It's set in Late 19thC London and focusses on an anarchist plot to bomb the Greenwich Observatory. This one I really want to see. I know its got a US release...

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
Based on John le Carré's novel of the same name, Alec Guinness stars as George Smiley, who is a spy called out of retirement to track down a double agent who he used to work with. It's a BBC miniseries that got a US 3-disc release.

Smiley's People (1982)
The follow up to Tinker Tailor Solider Spy.

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)
Dir: Martin Ritt
Another le Carré adaption. This one is a standalone film, rather than a miniseries like the above two.

Though they're spy films, these le Carré films aren't simply a James Bond or Jason Bourne clone. le Carré wrote proper espionage fiction that was noted for being grounded in reality, since he had worked for British Intelligence for a number of years.

Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
I know this has been released already by Madman, but only with the Michael Nyman score. It's a pity the current Madman release didn't include the score that The Cinematic Orchestra wrote, as well as Michael Nyman's. It would have been interesting to have the option of choosing which score to watch with the movie, as both are very different from each other. The Cinematic Orcheatra is a jazz/vaguely electronic band on the Ninja Tune label who also wrote a score 2003. Ninja Tune did released a DVD of the film with TCO's score...

EE:
Failan
Kang-jae, a bum, whose only wish is going back to his hometown with a fishing boat, gets involved in a crime committed by his boss. One day, he receives a letter from an unknown girl, and that changes his life forever.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289181/

Makes many a grown man cry. Possibly the only good bit of acting Cecilia Cheung has ever done.

MM Films:
Himmelfall
It's three days before Christmas at the Sollihogda psychiatric hospital. Reidar expects to get hit in the head by a meteor. He wants to save the whole world from catastrophe, but most off all he wants to save Juni.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0339149/

An amazing film and the lead actor, Kristoffer Joner, is also amazing.

I would also love a Vengeance Trilogy box set along the same lines as the Tartan Films delux box set but unfortunately you guys don't have the Oldboy rights, right?

I'd like to request the Czechoslovakian film "Alice", a dark and slightly disturbing, semi-animated version of Alice In Wonderland. In searching for information, I found that it is available in America - in dubbed form only. For me, this movie is a must have, and should it be aquired, I shall be first in line for a pre-order.

Finally tracked down a copy of Bong Joon-Ho's Barking Dogs Never Bite and loved it! This would be a great release for Eastern Eye.

Not quite up to the standard of his later directed Memories Of Murder and The Host, but considering they're pretty much flawless masterpieces that's of no real concern. Miles ahead of The Quiet Family, another South Korean black comedy of the same period, for example.

More classic noir like Double Indemnity. Don't ask me to list titles as there's too many. Hopefully DI is the first in a line of MM noir releases, and this genre gets the critical attention it deserves. I'm kinda tired of this genre only getting the 'massive-100-films-on-5-DVDs!!!!' treatment that you always see at Big W or Red Dot. You just know they're going to be bad...

I think I may have seen this at the Sydney film Festival in 05 or maybe 06. Its about 2 kids who are looking forward to a day at home playing video games but their plans are ruined when the power goes out. Without power they are forced to make their own entertainment. Great film.

I'd like to request Julietta.
It's a German film about an 18 year old girl becoming pregnant as a result of being raped while passed out at a music festival, and it deals very well with how this impacts on everyone involved.
It's been shown twice on SBS. Seeing it again made me realize just how much I liked it.

^Kat^cassidy^ wrote:

I'd like to request the Czechoslovakian film "Alice",

Well, some other Oz distributor (Gryphon) got this one and released it about 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, it looks like it's the same as the American release - only badly dubbed American, no Czech audio track. Can anyone confirm this? (PM me if you like). I already have the US version so there doesn't seem to be much point getting that version for me. I was very disappointed MM didn't get this one, as I'm sure they would have done a decent job with it (ie. including the original language, for God's sake). *sigh* I just love that film. Oh well._________________"Thank God we're Hot Chicks with Super Powers" - Faith, BTVS

Not sure if it has been suggested yet (the search function on these forums isn't very friendly) but what about 'When the Last Sword is Drawn'. I just saw this today - awesome samurai drama in the same vein as 'Twilight Samurai', but even better IMO.

It would be fantastic if Madman snapped up this title for a R4 release.